Fighting a Taller Opponent?

I'm 5'8" 140 lbs, and set to fight a fellow who's 6' 175 lbs. It's just basement brawling with little more than our egos at stake, but my ego means quite a bit to me and I would like to win. Clearly I have an uphill battle ahead of me, but I believe I have much more training and skills than he does.

My game plan is to seize the initiative with kicks- leg kicks, side kicks, and push kicks will be my primary weapons in the beginning of the fight. Ideally this will hurt his legs and tire him out.

I'll mostly try to parry his punches from outside and counterpunch him. I don't believe he has much training, so hopefully my superior form will translate into superior power despite his size advantage. Eventually, though, I'll want to close in quickly, try to get a thai clinch, and attack him with knees. This is where my game needs a bit of work- do you guys have any tips on how to quickly close the range and get the thai (or any other effective) clinch against a taller opponent?

From the clinch I would like to move quickly to the ground via takedown or throw. I don't think he's had much groundfighting experience, so I expect this to be ok as long as I stay active and work for the mount. There's a good chance he'll give me his back, hopefully even better if I can score enough high punches to frighten him into turning around. Hopefully I'll be the more aggressive fighter, though I admit my conditioning is extremely subpar.

So what do you guys think of this game plan? Is this likely to succeed? Do you have any tips on how to achieve the clinch and then attack from it? Anything I should add or consider?

I'm also 5'8" and weighed 152 in that fight. I was fighting a guy who was 6'2" and 162. Don't stay in his pocket, like I did. Of course, it sounds like you're fighting under MMA rules as opposed to MT.

Just a note: the 10 pounds that I gave up to my opponent made a pretty big difference. I'm not a great fighter, but for as many times as I punched him in the face, I couldn't really slow him down. Giving up 35 pounds to your opponent, even if you're superior in terms of skill, will be a bit of a challenge for you. Probably.